Christchurch shooter reveals why he carried out attack

The gunman who livestreamed himself opening fire on a Christchurch mosque has posted a manifesto online explaining why he committed the attack.

The gunman who livestreamed himself opening fire on a Christchurch mosque, turned the camera on himself before carrying out his deadly attack.Source:Supplied

A gunman who livestreamed himself opening fire at the Al Noor Mosque in Christchurch also posted a manifesto online addressing his reasons for the attack.

The man, who identified himself on Twitter as ‘Brenton Tarrant’ from Australia, described himself as “just a regular White man”.

The 28-year-old noted he was born “to a working class, low-income family … who decided to take a stand to ensure a future for my people”.

The gunman said he carried out the attack to “directly reduce immigration rates to European lands”.

He described his reasons for the disgusting attack as to “show the invaders that our lands will never be their lands, our homelands are our own and that, as long as a white man still lives, they will NEVER conquer our lands and they will never replace our people”.

The gunman described the attack as an act of “revenge on the invaders for the hundreds of thousands of death caused by foreign invaders in European lands throughout history … for the enslavement of millions of Europeans taken from their lands by the Islamic slavers … (and) for the thousands of European lives lost to terror attacks throughout European lands.”

He also said it was to take revenge for Ebba Akerlund, the 11-year-old child who was killed in a 2017 terror attack in Stockholm.

Earlier in the manifesto, Tarrant described his childhood as “regular” and “without any great issues”, noting he had little interest in his education and “barely achieved a passing grade” at school. He said he earned money investing in Bitconnect, an open-source cryptocurrency.

Posting on an 8chan forum, a user who identified himself as Tarrant announced he would carry out the attack.

“I will carry out and attack against the invaders, and will even live stream the attack via facebook,” he wrote, with a link to his Facebook page. “If I don’t survive the attack, goodbye, godbless and I will see you all in Valhalla!”

Many anonymous users responded praising him for the attack, with comments like “Godspeed” and “that video is so goddamn good”.

Tarrant announced on internet forum 8chan that he would carry out the attack. Picture: 8chanSource:Supplied

People in the 8chan forum praised the gunman’s post.Source:Supplied

In the days leading up to the attack, Tarrant posted photos to his now-suspended Twitter account of what appears to be guns, ammunition and a military-style vest.

The weaponry is scrawled with references to ancient battles and more recent attacks against Muslims.

Tarrant posted photos to his now-suspended Twitter account of what appears to be guns, ammunition and a military-style vest.Source:Twitter

The weaponry is scrawled with references to ancient battles and more recent attacks against Muslims.Source:Twitter

Bissonnette was sentenced to 40 years for shooting six people dead in the 2017 shooting at a mosque in Quebec.

Traini, an Italian man, is serving 12 years in prison for the shooting of six African migrants in a racially motivated attack in October last year.

On what appears to be a gun, the message “Here’s your migration compact!” is written.

The writing also cites military leaders and refers to ancient battles such as the 1189 Siege of Acre and Ottoman Empire battles including the 1863 battle of Vienna and the 1877 battle of Shipka Pass.

The writing names Feliks Kazimierz Potocki, Polish noble and military leader in the late 1600s, Charles Martel, a French military leader from the 700s.

Tarrant also frequently posted links to articles about extremism in Europe, multiculturalism and previous terror attacks.

Tarrant livestreamed the shooting to social media, sharing the horrifying video to Facebook.

The distressing footage, viewed by news.com.au and verified by Storyful, shows the gunman walk around the corner and up the path into the Al Noor Mosque. He walks through the front door and opens fire indiscriminately.

The video shows him firing into many rooms with a semiautomatic rifle, leaving bodies strewn on the floor as others run for their lives.

The shooter was active on social media in the days leading up to the attack, posting a photo of the rifle he used two days before the attack.

He also posted photos of the military gear he wore in the attack and the magazines he used to mow down the innocent people.

Police described it as an “evolving situation” and implored residents to stay indoors. All Christchurch schools have been locked down.

It’s understood about 300 people were inside the Hagley Park mosque for afternoon prayers when one of the shootings happened. There are reports children were also at the scene and four to five men were seen being led out of the building with their hands behind their head.

New Zealand Police urged anyone in Christchurch to stay indoors and report any suspicious behaviour.